- Finding the right types of candidates
to fill your pipeline is far from easy.
In fact, it's an ongoing process
that takes quite a bit of work,
especially in today's extremely competitive market.
Unfortunately, the journey doesn't end
once we've defined our entry-level opportunities
and created an awesome job posting
that lands several hundred clicks a day.
Wait, you didn't think things were about
to get easier, did you?
Well the reality is you not only have
to build your pipeline, you have to maintain your pipeline.
The talent in your pipeline needs to be constantly assessed,
nurtured, and the pipeline itself, or pool of talent,
needs to be regularly reviewed and updated.
Imagine this, you've just started a new consulting business
and built a website to interact
with your customers and prospects.
Web traffic is high.
Social media buzz is on the rise.
You're feeling pretty positive so far.
The problem is there's not much activity
beyond the website hits and social posts.
Visitors either don't sign up
for the initial assessment you're offering,
or they schedule an appointment then cancel,
with the most common reason cited
as "Went with another vendor."
This is very similar to what happens
to many security leaders in search of talent.
The market is competitive, even with entry-level candidates
because let's face it,
organizations recruiting still want what?
That's right, they still want the top candidates.
So what does that mean for you?
As we saw in the consulting example,
it means you might find yourself in a situation
where a large number of entry-level candidates
express interest in your role
but don't accept the interview,
or they go through the interview process
and withdraw their candidacy or decline your offer
because they, well, accepted another offer.
One of my former managers said to me,
during an interview actually, "Every call is a sales call."
I was interviewing for a technical sales role at the time,
so within the context of my role, he was absolutely right.
But what he said stuck with me.
So I began to apply that line of thinking even outside work.
Every conversation I had with someone,
my goal was to get them to pick up what I was putting down
as I like to say.
For me to be successful,
I need you to pick up what I'm putting down.
So yeah, every call's a sales call.
Okay. My bad.
That was a bit of a tangent
but I promise there's a point to all this.
When it comes to attracting the right talent,
you need candidates to buy what you're selling
which means you need something to sell,
something to set you apart
from other companies trying to land the same candidates.
What would make someone want to join your company
and your team over the next company and their team?
More importantly, what will make them stay
once you're lucky enough to bring them on board?
Talent pipeline maintenance is an ongoing effort
as I've said before,
but it doesn't have to be incredibly time consuming
if approached effectively.
And it can even begin to maintain itself
once you've mastered the art.
In the upcoming discussion,
we'll cover some strategies you can use to attract
and retain top talent.